Hiawatha, the county seat and second largest town of Brown county, is centrally located on the Missouri Pacific and the St. Joseph & Grand Island railroads. It is an incorporated city of the second class and has over 100 business establishments, among which are 3 banks, a mill, a bottling works, a feed mill, a washing machine factory, greenhouses, an opera house, six publications, viz: the Brown County World, daily and weekly; the Kansas Democrat; the Key, a monthly; the School News, monthly; Herbert's Magazine, and the Hiawatha News. The city has waterworks, fire department, sewer system, electricity for lighting and power purposes, and a handsome park with a bathing pond. A public library is maintained in the building of the Ladies Art League. The Hiawatha Academy is located here. The town is supplied with telegraph and express offices and has an international money order postoffice with six rural routes. The population according to the census of 1910 was 2,974.

Hiawatha was founded in 1857 and is therefore one of the older towns of the state. The first building was erected for hotel purposes and occupied by Partch & Barnum. The postoffice was established in 1858 with H. R. Dutton the first postmaster. The fire department was organized in 1874. A fire occurred in 1871 which destroyed $12,000 worth of property, and another in 1879 which destroyed the first Hiawatha house. From 1875 the city council refused to issue liquor licenses to any one. The first newspaper was the Brown County Union, established in 1861. In 1871 a full complement of city officers were elected as follows: Mayor, J. Shilling; clerk, H. J. Aten; treasurer, James A. Pope; marshal, J. B. Butterfield; assessor, F. J. Heller; police judge, J. W. Oberholtzer; attorney, C. W. Johnson; councilmen, J. W. Pottenger, B. F. Killey, G. Amann, H. M. Robinson and H. C. Wey.